


Parking

by Fabrisse



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Claiming, Jealousy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-11
Updated: 2009-10-11
Packaged: 2018-03-11 10:38:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3324464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/pseuds/Fabrisse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone's stunned when Hotch shows up to work with a hickey just above his collar</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parking

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I wrote for Rounds of Kink that I hadn't posted here yet. The original prompt was from enmuse.

Reid saw them come in to the bullpen, and it looked like the case was a win. He'd been in physical therapy for most of yesterday, and when he'd asked Garcia this morning, all she'd said was, "They caught him. I'll let Morgan tell you all about it." 

It was good to see the team happy, even if he'd had nearly nothing to do with the case. He knew at least two of them would be even happier when they got to their desks. Reid had cleared a half-dozen consults apiece for Prentiss and Morgan which meant they would only need to finish the case paperwork.

As Hotch walked by his desk, he saw it -- a mark on his neck toward the back of his collar. Morgan followed Reid's eye line and smiled. "Yeah. Apparently, Hotch knew one of the lady D.A.s back in the day."

Prentiss chimed in, "None of us had the heart to tell him."

"Right." Reid gave a tight smile. "If you guys are back, I should probably load up on caffeine and sugar. Enjoy your clean desks." He grabbed his crutches and swung his way to the break room.

"Hey. Thanks, man." Morgan was thrilled, and Prentiss was smiling broadly.

As he went by, Hotch started to say something to him, but Reid just kept on going. He exchanged looks with Morgan who shrugged.

Hotch went to the break room. "Reid, I just wanted to say your insight on his paraphilias was invaluable."

His voice startled Reid, and he spilled his coffee. "Great." He tried to balance himself and brush the hot liquid off his trousers. Hotch attempted to help, and Reid pulled away, wincing. "Just get away from me."

"Reid. I came in here to thank you. I'm sorry if I startled you."

"Yeah. Well, I still don't have any coffee. I'd better go change into something from my go bag." Reid's voice was tight. He could barely look at Hotch.

"Fine. I'll make more coffee and meet you at your desk."

"What for? You've said you were going to thank me. We can take it as read." Reid turned his back on his boss and started to leave the room.

Hotch put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Reid. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just spilled hot coffee on myself. Now may I go change?"

Hotch nodded. When he went to his office, he sent an email. 

"Reid --

Join me for lunch. I know you're ahead of the workload.

Hotch"

***   
He'd put Reid in the back seat so he could stretch out his leg. Hotch glanced in the rear view a couple of times, shocked that Reid was silent. He finally broke it himself, "Is Chinese all right?"

"Fine."

"Your usual?"

"Sure."

Hotch was impressed. Reid didn't manage monosyllables very often. He pulled into a secluded part of the parking lot of one of the better strip mall restaurants and said, "I'm going to bring it back to the car so we can talk."

"Whatever."

Hotch shook his head. At least he'd broken the monosyllable streak.

When he came back to the car, Hotch handed Reid a styrofoam dish and a plastic fork. 

He put the drinks in the well, and took the other backseat. "I got black tea and green tea. I didn't know which you preferred with food."

"I'm fine with either." Reid took a bite of his shrimp lo mein.

Hotch handed him the black tea. "My doctor recommended I drink more green tea. Apparently, he learned about it from Oprah."

Reid gave a quick flash of smile at the sally. "I don't suppose you brought sugar?"

Hotch put his food on the seat between them, next to Reid's outstretched leg, and dug in his suit pocket. "I know better than to deprive you of a sugar rush." He handed Reid a stirrer as well.

"Thanks."

They ate quietly for a couple of minutes. The silence was like a third person between them. Hotch finally said, "So, are you going to tell me what got you so upset earlier? Or am I going to have to recommend more counseling?"

"Counseling. I'll take it as seriously as you took yours after Foyet." Reid's voice was pleasant, but his eyes held a warning.

"Since we're just a couple of colleagues grabbing lunch, I don't suppose I can write you up for insubordination? But I can put you on administrative leave again." 

"Is that a threat?" Reid's jaw tightened and he put aside his food.

Hotch eased back a little. "It was, but you're right. It's inappropriate in these circumstances." He thought for a minute. "No one on the team is particularly good about taking counseling seriously. We know too much psychology to trust it, and too little to use it well in our personal lives. You didn't do anything this morning that could endanger anyone. Even your attitude was pleasant with the others and placating toward me. But I've done something to upset you, and I don't know what it was. Whatever it may have been, I don't want to affect our work relationship. You're an essential part of the team, and every case without you in the field drives it home more thoroughly."

"It's good to know I'm missed."

"Are you going to need another surgery? Is this about your issues with pain management?"

Reid gave a rueful chuckle. "That's as nice a euphemism for addiction as I've heard. I'm sure that's playing into my emotional state a bit. I'm not craving which, frankly, is a huge surprise. I just assumed that actually needing pain treatment would make me want opiates. But it isn't." He seemed genuinely surprised, Hotch noted. "The pain itself sucks. I've had worse acute pain in my life, but I'm not used to constant low-level aches. I'd love to have something stronger than naproxen to turn to for it, but really? I'm okay without."

Hotch nodded. "But it's taking an emotional toll. By the way, you didn't answer my question about surgery."

"I don't know. The doctors want to give my knee another two weeks of therapy before making a decision for a third surgery. I'll keep you posted."

"Which brings us back to the reason I'm taking a long lunch hour at a cheap Chinese restaurant."

Reid took a swallow of his tea before resting it in the well. He took a moment, and Hotch thought he could see a decision being made, then reached out and touched Hotch's neck. He placed a gentle pressure on one spot, and Hotch flinched.

"I thought my shirt collar covered it." He looked a little embarrassed.

"Did you? It mostly does, and I suppose the angle is such that you might not have been able to see it in the mirror, but ..."

Hotch gave a half laugh. "You think I'm a teenager? Proud of a hickey? Seriously, I'm a little embarrassed that it can be seen."

"Resuming a sex life after the divorce is a big step. And while I doubt you'd choose to let the world know it's happened, I'm sure there's a certain level of pride in it."

"Gideon would have said something like, 'there are no accidents,' to make that point."

Reid looked away. "I'm not Gideon. If you've found someone, even if it's only for a night, then good for you. You and Haley were together for nearly twenty years, you should get to have a new teen phase."

"Okay. So what's the problem?"

Reid checked out the car's ceiling, ran his hand over the seat back, and generally avoided Hotch's gaze. Finally, he took a deep breath and said, "I'm jealous. I know I'm your subordinate. I know you're straight. Hell, I'm not entirely sure I'm _not_ straight. But seeing evidence that someone else claimed you -- and honestly, we could probably get a forensic dental match on that bruise -- made me want to fight. I thought going and getting a cup of coffee and taking a few minutes to calm down was the right thing to do."

Hotch rolled his eyes. "Instead, I invade the space you were using to cool off and manage to keep the situation inflamed. I'll try not to do that again."

Reid looked at him directly. "Nice save."

"Do you want to talk about the attraction? I told Rossi we were taking a long lunch. We'll only be disturbed if it's an emergency."

"Do you want to talk about why you were making out on a case?" 

Hotch took a few more bites of his orange flavored beef, then had another swallow of tea. "I knew her in college. She was dating someone when we met, and by the time she was free, I was back together with Haley. She worked for the local District Attorney's office, but she had nothing to do with our case. We just happened to run into each other. When we were done last night, I called her. We had dinner and then went and parked." 

He smiled a little at the memory. "No clothing was removed."

"So she's married." Reid's voice was flat.

"She didn't wear a wedding ring, and she said she was separated, but I suspect that wasn't true."

"Which is why no clothing was removed. How many times did she come?" 

Hotch's neck snapped up as he met Reid's eyes.

Reid continued, "You're not guilty enough to have come yourself, and you're too smug to have left her unsatisfied."

"Remind me not to have discussions like this with a profiler. Yes. You summed it up. I enjoyed the fact that whatever Haley and I are to each other, I'm past the idea that she's my lover. But I'm not ready to be someone else's 'other man' either."

"No. Whatever else you are, you're an honorable man." Reid shook his head. "I'll get over it. Somehow, when you separated from Haley, I started looking at you differently, wondering things like what it might be like to kiss you."

Hotch leaned forward and pressed his lips to Reid's. "So you don't have to wonder." 

He took in the surprise on Reid's face, saw his tongue flick out to lick his lips, and then pulled Reid back to him. 

This wasn't a gentle pressure, it was a searing heat. He felt one of Reid's hands against his back, holding him steady; the other cradled his head as Reid opened his lips. He accepted the probing tongue into his mouth and moaned at the sensation as he flicked his own against the underside of Reid's.

Suddenly, Reid was back against the seat, one hand up between them. "Kiss me like that again, and I guarantee clothing will be removed." He softened the words with a half smile.

Hotch felt the color rise to his cheeks. "That doesn't sound like a bad thing, you know."

"No. It doesn't." Reid closed his eyes. "We're both serious men. If we're going to break a rule, it's going to be eyes open. And a relationship between a superior and subordinate is just about the biggest rule we have."

"Yes." One of his hands still rested against Reid's neck, and as he realized it, Hotch ran his thumb over Reid's jaw then sat back. "I hadn't expected to be attracted to you."

"It's fine. As you said, at least now I don't have to wonder." Reid bit his lip, and Hotch found himself wishing he could do the biting.

"I'd like to explore this more," Hotch said.

Reid's eyes widened with shock. "Well, that's frank. So would I. But."

"But."

"Let me get through the next doctor's appointment. That should give her mark time to fade."

"You _are_ the jealous type." Hotch seemed amazed at the idea.

"It shocks me too. I've never felt territorial about someone before. It's not... nice."

"No. It isn't." He caught the inquiry in Reid's eyes and said, "Haley was having an affair when we separated. It was the opposite for me. I was far less jealous -- at least about the sex -- than I expected to be. That whoever he was might be making my family into his family incensed me."

"Crap. And just when I thought maybe I didn't hate your ex-wife, you tell me something like that."

"If it helps, I don't hate her. I never have. The dominant emotion I have about my marriage is disappointment -- that I couldn't be a good enough husband, father, companion." Hotch shook his head.

Reid took his hand. "I'm sorry. I wish you could go back to having your family. I know what Jack means to you."

He looked at the strong hand holding his, then looked at Reid. "Thank you. I think you were talking about what would happen in two weeks?"

"If I need another surgery, how about letting me stay with you or you come stay with me? It would give us a chance to talk. I enjoyed staying with JJ and Will, but I don't want to impose on them again and ..."

"It would let us make an informed decision." He pressed a kiss to Reid's palm.

Reid moaned low in his throat. "Damn. I hate being a grown up." He ran the back of his hand down Hotch's face then picked up his food again. "I'm hungrier than I thought."

"Even if I say no, I ..."

"Eat, Hotch. You'll have plenty of time to think. And if I invade your fantasies, just remember, you've been in mine for awhile." Reid grinned as Hotch picked up his meaning.

"I'm sure you will. You have a funny way of getting under my skin." 

He picked up his meal, too, and this time the silence was good.


End file.
